Biblical Community! St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, TX 76531 Phone: (254) 386-3158 Preschool (254) 386-3332 Fax: (254) 386-3159 Pastor pastorreich@gmail.com Secretary stjohnlutheranoffice@gmail.com Preschool stjohnlutheranpreschool@gmail.com Website: www.stjohnhamilton.org May we continue to be and share the Gospel with A Heart for and the World!! Last month I stressed in my newsletter article the importance of placing God first in our lives. Part of this discipline is making sure that we intentionally spend time in God s word privately at home and publicly in worship and in Bible studies. Several weeks ago in our Believe series we looked at the whole idea of the biblical community. So many people today have gotten out of the habit or don t even see a need to be a part of a biblical or church community. The church community is where we get the encouragement and strength we need to live our lives as a Christian in the world. As I have mentioned before, we need each other. We need everyone working together in order for the biblical community or the body of Christ to function properly to carry out the work of the church. We also need each other to hold each other accountable. I know that people don t like using or hearing this word today because no one needs to be telling me what to do. However, we need each other so that we can check on each other to make sure everything is going well. In fact, I would encourage each of you to choose someone that you would like to check in with to make sure they are fine and to encourage each other to be in worship and in Bible study. I know that everyone s life is busy, but as we have heard over the past several weeks in worship, Where our treasure is, there will be our heart also. Where we spend our time is a reflection on what we feel is most important in our lives. We need each other and the more time we spend together in worship, Bible study and fellowship activities the closer we grow to each other and to our Savior together. The biblical community here at St. John is a very important part of who we are as Christians. We need each other! May we continue to be used by God to share His life saving message with A Heart for Hamilton County and the World!
Birthday's 1st Alex Housden 10th Amie Eilers Shawna McKandless 21st 22nd Ryan Polster David Gromatzky 3rd 4th Casey Finstad Suzanne Jarvis 11th Jane Dodson Billy Geter 23rd Weston Nolen Sarah Zschiesche 6th John Tyson Lynn Muxworthy Payden Nolen 12th Piper Hanson Debbie Jahns Artie Peters 25th Colton DeLaGarza Savannah Johnson Fernanda Olalde 8th Tyler Sellers Mike Armstrong Jon English 13th Martin Seider Carson Wolff Kristi Wagner 26th Philip Abdou Megan Martin Cole McCown Gary Gromatzky Donna Smith 16th 18th Lillye Sanders Brayden Armstrong Trevor Sellers Cutter Tyson 9th Betty Tischler 19th 20th Larry Stamberger Clayton Ellis 29th Isaac Wenzel James Tischler Baptism s 1st Howard Cox Travis Odom 2nd Caleb Niemann 3rd Eddie Moyers 4th Scott Williams 10th Megan Martin Bryson Marwitz Shawna McKandless 13th Juanita Bushee Derrel Hungerford Amber Tyson 14th Emilie Reeves 15th Stacey Creek 16th Betty Tischler 20th Ethan Chorenziak Kara Chorenziak Lynn Muxworthy 21st Cecelia Jenson 22nd Clayton DeLaGarza Jared Massingill 23rd 25th 26th 27th Valerie Massingill 28th Dennis Schoen Jerome Pietzsch 29th Easton Turner Brian Witzsche 30th Johnny Clark Fernanda Olalde Nicole Wenzel Barry Finstad Lillye Sanders Josh Squyres Bobby Moore Anniversaries 1st Josh & Sarah Bauman 14yrs Mark & Kelli Nolen 25yrs 5th Cecil & Mildred Kauitzsch 73yrs Jerome & Alice Pietzsch 45yrs 20th Doyle & Ima Roberts 52yrs 24th Sonny & Melissa DeLaGarza 10yrs 26th Nic & Michelle Cantara 6yrs Travis & Linda Moore 52yrs 27th Gary & Dixie Gromatzky 52yrs 28th Dayle & Gayla Squyres 42yrs 2 David & Kim Tyson 31yrs
You re invited to join St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool Vacation Bible School June 20-24 8:00-11:30 Hope you come have fun while learning about Jesus. We will be selling: T-Shirts, Music CD & Caps $6.00 Please pre-register for VBS (at church office or online @ stjohnhamilton.org) so we can get our class lists done early. If you are interested in being a helper contact Misti Polster or Shawna McKandless. Pretty in Pink Daddy/daughter Dance We invite all girls ages 3 to current 5th graders and their Fathers, or that special Father figure in their life, to join us for a magical evening of dancing with your special date. When: June 9, 2016 Where: St. John Lutheran Church Time: 7:00-9:00pm Snack and Refreshments will be available Make Memories that will last a Lifetime! Sponsored by: St. John Lutheran Outreach To volunteer, donate or need more info, call 254.485.3241 3
Ordination Service for Erik Christensen June 12, 2016 4:00pm Potluck Meal following service. Meat & Desserts will be provided. Please bring your favorite side dish. Hello St. John I know a lot of things have happened since the last time that I wrote to you. After all baseball season has started, and my Texas Rangers seem to be starting out on a high note which is great! And then we had March Madness, and now the NBA and NHL playoffs going. I think I have even gotten down to the final assignments of my seminary career. But all of this doesn t mention the biggest change that has taken place, and that change came on the night of April 26 th. That evening all of my concluding seminary brothers and I found out where we have been called to serve the Lord in the next leg of this great adventure that we are on within the church. That evening we gathered at the Chapel here on campus with all of our families, parents, pastors, and members from our calling congregations and we patiently worshipped God giving thanks for all of the many blessings He has bestowed upon each of us during our lives. I particularly was thinking of each and every one of you who have helped support me during these long five years at the seminary. After listening to an amazing sermon that reminded us once again that ministry is not about what we are able to do through our own efforts, but that it is entirely about what God is able to do with us and through us as His servants of the word we were ready to stand up and receive our calls. It was such an incredible moment, and I did not know what to expect, but my knees were shaking and my mind was racing until I heard Reverend Wayne Knolhoff, the director of calls at the St. Louis Seminary, call out my name. At that moment an immense sense of peace and relaxation came flooding over me. God was definitely there with me giving me strength to walk down that aisle and receive the call documents from President Hennings, from the Texas District. As I walked down the aisle I listened as the name of the congregation and town that I was being called to was announced to the entire assembly. Low and behold I don t think I could have chosen a better location because I have been assigned to Our Savior Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tennessee as an Associate pastor for Youth and Young Families. That night I was on cloud nine, because this happened to be one of the congregations that I had interviewed with back in January, and it was also my preferred location after all of my interviews had been completed. Since that evening I have been in contact with tons of members from the congregation, and have scheduled all of the important events like ordination, installation, and when I would officially begin working. Ordination is going to be held on June 12 th at my home congregation in Hamilton Texas, and then Installation will take place on July 24 th there in Nashville. During that month in between ordination and Installation a lot will be taking place for me. First, I will be travelling out to California to witness one of my friends get married. Once I get back from California I will pack up my belongings and move out to Tennessee. I will take a couple of weeks to get settled into my new apartment and begin learning the lay of the land around Nashville. I will definitely be going to the Grand Ole Opry, of course! After those two weeks I will officially start working on July 11 th at Our Savior, and then three days later I will set out on a great adventure with my youth group as we attend the National Youth Gathering. I will be one of six adult leaders going, so I will just be getting to know the other adult leaders as well as the youth a lot better. I know we will have a blast that week, and I cannot wait for it to be here! Finally after that week away, we will return to Nashville and I will have my installation. The time is flying by, and with all of the paperwork and class assignments that I still need to get done there is very little rest for the weary. However, I am overjoyed to finally know where God will be using me and where I will get to call home. Hopefully for a very long time! I want to say thank you again for all of your support and encouragement thus far, and you all will definitely remain in my prayers and thoughts as God continues to bless each of you and your families! Much love in Christ! Erik Christensen 4
Trust and Obey 1887 John H. Sammis Daniel B. Towner Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6 Daniel B. Towner, who wrote the melody to this song, inherited his love of music from his father, Professor J. G. Towner, a beloved vocalist and music teacher. While growing up, Daniel studied with some of the finest musicians available and began his career as worship leader in a Methodist church in Binghamton, New York. He later served churches in Ohio and Kentucky before being tapped by evangelist D. L. Moody in the fall of 1885. For several years, Daniel traveled with Moody, singing and doing personal work. He once explained how this hymn came to be written: Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, I am not quite sure but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey. I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with the little story to Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. Sammis wrote a poem based on the phrase trust and obey, and sent it back to Towner, who went to work on the music. Alfred Smith, in his Treasury of Hymn Histories, adds that while working on the music to Trust and Obey, Dr. Towner grew discouraged. That evening in his home, he crumpled up the paper and threw the manuscript into the wastebasket. The next morning, as his wife was straightening his office, she retrieved the crumpled paper and sang over the words and melody to herself. She left it on the organ and encouraged her husband to work on it some more, telling him, I feel the melody you have written is just what is needed to carry the message. She was right. In 1893, Dr. Towner became head of the Music Department of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago where he trained hundreds of young people to lead worship and minister to the Lord in Music. He wrote the melodies of some of our favorite hymns, including: At Calvary, My Anchor Holds, and Grace Greater Than All Our Sins. He also compiled fourteen hymnbooks and wrote several textbooks. At age 70, while leading singing in revival meetings at Longwood, Missouri, he suffered a seizure and died. When we walk with the Lord In the light of His Word, What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will Trust and Obey. Trust and obey, For there s no other way To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey. But we never can prove The delights of His love, Until all on the altar we lay; For the favor He shows And the joy He bestows Are for them who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, For there s no other way To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey. Music Notes By; Gary Gromatzky Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt nor a fear, Not a sigh nor a tear. Can abide while we Trust and obey. Trust and obey, For there s no other way To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey. Then in fellowship sweet We will sit at His feet, Or we ll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go, Never fear, only Trust and obey. Trust and obey, For there s no other way 5 To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.
Preschool News The Eagle June 2016 Water Activities Dino World Field Trip 6
Little Lambs Mighty Lions Kinderoos 7
Men s Club and Youth Chicken & Sausage BBQ Mother s Day Men s Club would like to thank everyone for their help and support of this endeavor. Without those involved and all the ones who purchase chickens, all of this would not be possible. Again a Humble Thank you to all. Total Raised $4,723.55 St. John Lutheran Church & Preschool 122 Cheyenne Mesa Hamilton, Texas 76531 8